Zack and Miri Make a Porno

“What? Han Solo aint never had no sex with Princess Leia in the Star War!”

The Lighter Side to Pornographic Productions Humours the Audience

It’s a Kevin Smith film, so it can’t be but so bad, right? However, this film is not set in his infamous View Askewniverse, so I was a little wary of Zach and Miri Make a Porno. All my doubts were cast aside within the first few minutes of the film, when the crass but satisfying humour begins and never ends. Zack and Miri tells the story of two lifelong friends Zack (Seth Rogan) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks) who find themselves in financial difficulty and decide to make a porno film in order to pay their bills. The film features Kevin Smith’s regulars Jeff Anderson and Jason Mewes, which gives a certain taste of the New Jersey-based View Askewniverse in the film’s setting just outside of Pittsburgh.

The film showed Kevin Smith’s usual blend of sex jokes, toilet humour, and Star Wars references, but with a lot more sex and a lot more toilet humour, and only a small reference the Star Wars. I definitely wouldn’t classify this film as anything special in the Kevin Smith canon, but it provided me with an antidote for the gloom that came from seeing Changeling just days before. And even though I cannot place this film in the same league as Clerks, Mallrats, or Dogma, it was more than satisfactory, and, since my expectations weren’t particularly high in the first place, the film well exceeded them.

Seth Rogan was very well placed in this film; most of his punch lines were sex-related, which seems to be his token role. I still want to see more out of Seth Rogan because that little bit of idealistic faith in me sees more potential in him than the roles he chooses. I think that Rogan has talent, but he’s just uncomfortable stepping outside of the character he always plays. Hopefully, with a little more experience, and a little more pushing in the right direction, he will become something more.

The acting was well done. The premise was well thought out. The jokes were funny, but probably only the first time around. And, as always, it’s Kevin Smith – enough said. This film is a good upbeat selection for those who just saw a sad movie, and, for that, I give it a B+.